NCH celebrates 15 years of its therapy dog program

Recently, Northwest Community Healthcare celebrated the 15th anniversary of the Animal Assisted Therapy program. All dogs and handlers were invited for a day on the hospital lawn full of treats, games and, most importantly, lots of pets.

Do you think your canine companion would enjoy volunteering as a therapy dog?

Training consists of three, five-hour Saturday classes, where teams visit patients in the hospital and work on the best way each dog likes to visit with patients. After the training, the teams are certified by the Alliance of Therapy Dogs.

New teams will officially start visiting patients (and employees) soon after training is complete.

"We are always looking for new teams," said program manager Kathy King. "If we get enough applications, we hope to have another training class added."

A team consists of a dog and its handler (must be the owner of the pet and at least 18 years old). Therapy dogs can be any breed, but must be in good health, obedient, enjoy people and get along with other dogs.

To apply for our animal-assisted therapy teams, just download an application and return it to NCH.

For more details on the Animal Assisted Therapy program, contact Kathy King at (847) 618-7968 or k2king@nch.org.